Sheppard's Fault
by Gater101
Summary: OneShot. The thing was that this time, it actually wasn’t his fault. They may have called it Sheppard’s fault, but it certainly wasn’t his.


Title: Sheppard's Fault  
Summary: The thing was that this time, it actually wasn't his fault. They may have _called _it Sheppard's fault, but it certainly wasn't his.  
Characters: John & Teyla McKay  
Pairing: John/Teyla  
Rating: K+  
Notes: Tag fic with Wedjatqi.

The thing was that this time, it actually wasn't his fault. They may have _called _it Sheppard's fault, but it certainly wasn't his.

As it happened, the fault line had already existed. All he'd done was press some buttons and their fancy machine and hey, presto the fault lines may have been shattered and some volcanic lava may have spilled from the tiny crack between the two.

That was not his fault.

Teyla rolled her eyes at him as he muttered those words again, as they tried to evacuate as many people to the other side of the planet as possible.

"You did not need to repeatedly fire at the fault line in an attempt to close it up."

Okay, so _maybe that had been his fault_. But it's not like he _meant _to cause the thing to erupt. The way he saw it, they should have picked a better test spot. That way, none of this would have been anybody's fault because _none of it would have happened._

But it had. And they had blamed him, while Rodney had quickly nicknamed the geographic phenomenon after Sheppard.

Sometimes John hated the Canadian's quick wit.

"I thought it would help," he said by way of justification and she simply rolled her eyes as she motioned for the throng of people to keep moving. "I can't see why we can't just pack the Daedalus full."

She glared at him over the top of the moving throng of people between them.

"There is not enough life support to accommodate them all – you know this very well, John."

He glared over at her playfully, before yelping as one of the younger kids stood on his foot.

"Yeah but it's not like they're going far; it would sure make this a hell of a lot easier."

"Keep moving," she said quickly as a group of middle aged men attempted to turn back the way in which the lava was approaching. She looked back over to John. "Perhaps if you had listened to Rodney and stopped firing, this would be a lot easier."

"How was I supposed to know it would make the hole bigger?" She raised her eyebrow and John wondered how it was possible for her to look amused and pissed off at the same time. "I didn't do very well in Geography." She pursed her lips. "Or physics for that matter," he added as an afterthought to which she smiled.

"And what did you do well in John?" She asked and he smiled quickly over to her.

"Everything else." She rolled her eyes and he laughed lightly in the back of his throat. Despite the situation, he was kind of having fun. It had been a while since they'd shared easy banter and despite it being a life or death situation, he was really starting to feel it. They were back in the zone and he liked it. "Seriously though," she looked over at his words, an interested glaze in her eyes, "I'm better with numbers than McKay could ever dream of being."

She looked at him for a moment as though assessing him and he suddenly felt very naked – she had gotten far too good at that look.

"I have been aware of this for some time," she said eventually as she ducked her head around the corner, looking to see how many more were to come. "That is us nearly at the end."

Just at that moment, Doctor Zarygon walked up to them, his hand folded across his abdomen. John hated that pose.

"These are the last people."

John nodded and guided the others to where the Daedalus would beam them up, using the voice Teyla had once told him had made her trust him instantly. He rarely used it now; it was another characteristic that had gotten lost in the burden of command but there were occasions – like now – where he felt good enough about himself to be able to let the levity reappear in his tone.

As they walked to the last group herded around the (soon to be destroyed) Ancient Tree of Wisdom, Sheppard turned to Teyla.

"How'd you know I was good with numbers?"

She did not turn to him but he could see the small smile on her lips.

"There is much you do not know you give away John Sheppard." He frowned at that; he thought he was pretty good at hiding things. He narrowed his eyes; it was her who was too good at finding things. "But do not worry," she said as she glanced to him from the corner of her eye, "Rodney does not know yet."

He smiled.

"Let's keep it that way."

He could see the edge of that half grin again and something inside of him tightened.

"Very well."

"Thank you, Sheppard," one of the women in the group said as she approached him. "I have always wanted to go to the other side of the planet; if it hadn't been for you, I may never have gotten the opportunity."

There was a beat where neither he nor Teyla said anything but simply stared at the woman. Then Sheppard rolled his eyes and turned away, laughing slightly.

"It wasn't my fault!"


End file.
